Preview: Lincoln V Robins

13 February 2018

Cheltenham Town make the trip north to face Lincoln City in a midweek encounter in Sky Bet League Two at Sincil Bank (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Robins will be full of confidence after a 5-1 victory over Port Vale at the weekend – that included a first ever Football League hat-trick from Mo Eisa to move him into second spot in the goalscoring charts.

Lincoln – in eighth spot in the league - are a team in form. The Imps have lost just one of their last 16 matches in all competitions (W9 D6), a 4-2 away defeat at top of the table Luton in January.

Lincoln have won just one of their previous 14 League Two matches against Cheltenham (D3 L10), failing to score in eight of those matches and in each of the last two.

Cheltenham have lost just one of their eight visits to Lincoln in the Football League (W4 D3), a 1-0 defeat in October 2000.

When then teams met earlier in the season it was the Robins who claimed a 1-0 win at the LCI Rail Stadium courtesy if a goal from Danny Wight.

The Opposition:

Lincoln boss Danny Cowley admits aiming for the play-offs is the aspiration for the Imps this season – but believes there is no expectation to make it back-to-back promotions.

The Impsy have drawn four of their six league games since the turn of 2018, mostly recently at Cambridge United on Friday night as they look to back up last season when they were promoted to the Football League.

“No-one who has got a God-given right to win in this league,” said Cowley. “The aspiration is to get into those play-off places. If we do that – along with the Wembley appearance – it would supersede anything we did last year.

Last season was one of the most memorable seasons in the club’s history. If we can back that up by getting to the play-offs, it would be unbelievable.

“But I don’t think there is an expectation to get promoted and there shouldn’t be an expectation. That would be wrong because the club is not ready to cope with that expectation.

“But that doesn’t mean it can’t be an aspiration and we’ll be working really hard every single day to try and get there.”

Cowley has also explained why he turned down the chance to manage Barnsley with his assistant manager brother Nicky.

"For us we want to finish what we start. We love Lincoln and we're really appreciative of them allowing us to go full-time for the first time." he said.

"It's a club that we think a lot of. We're on a journey and we feel like we're making progress every day and while we do that we're really focused on what we're trying to achieve there."

Team News:

Cheltenham team news: Manager Gary Johnson will be able to call upon Taylor Moore and Danny Wright after both players completed three-match suspensions. Joe Morrell will undergo a fitness test after a groin injury while Jake Andrews is a doubt after missing training in the week to attend the birth of his daughter.

Lincoln team news: James Wilson is an injury concern for Lincoln after the central defender was forced off with an injury early in the second half of the goalless draw at Cambridge. Should Wilson miss out, Imps boss Danny Cowley could replace him with Scott Wharton.

The man in the middle:

Referee Sebastian Stockbridge – who has taken charge of 30 games this season and handed out 99 yellow cards and six red cards - will take charge of the league clash at Sincil Bank. He will be assisted by Joe Clark, Darren Strain and fourth official Wayne Grunnill.

Last time we met:

21/10/17 – Cheltenham Town 1-0 Lincoln City (L2)

30/04/16 – Cheltenham Town 3-1 Lincoln City (NL)

08/08/15 – Lincoln City 1-1 Cheltenham Town (NL)

25/04/11 – Lincoln City 0-2 Cheltenham Town (NL)

25/01/11 – Cheltenham Town 1-2 Lincoln City (NL)

Ticket Information:

Fans are advised that tickets will be available from the Ticket Office at the LCI Rail Stadium until 1pm on the day of the game.

For further information call the Ticket Office at the LCI Rail Stadium on 01242 573558 (option 1) or email via tickets@ctfc.com